Tuesday, May 3, 2011

I'm sure you guys saw that Blizz has a new pet in their pet store, the Cenarion Hatchling. I have actually never bought a pet from the Blizz store, even when the incredibly cute moonkin pet was released. But I did something I've never done this morning and bought the Cenarion Hatchling pet. Why? Well, when I read that 100% of the proceeds were going to the American Red Cross's Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami relief efforts, it was a no brainer for me.

I didn't mention it on this blog, but the earthquake and tsunami in Japan hit very close to home for me. While I am Korean by ethnicity, I was actually born in Sendai, Japan and my family lived there for 5 years while my dad was getting his Ph.D. Sendai has always been very close to my heart and I was devastated by the destruction of its coastal areas.

So for a cause so incredibly close to my heart to coincide with this game seems to me like more than just coincidence. And given that I've blogged here on Tree of Life for almost 4 years with nothing more to give you than my witty sarcasm and silly sense of humor, I figure its time to offer something more.

Thus, I am offering these pets as gifts. Leave a comment if you are interested. I will have Jess then use his statistical brilliance to pick comments at random and will put up a post with the names of those who have won. Then you can shoot me an email and we'll arrange for me to gift the pet to you. (FYI, I will probably need help on how to gift a pet to someone, because remember I am technically challenged).

To keep it simple, please only one comment per person. I am going to keep comments open for 48 hours. Comments will be closed at about 3 pm CST on Thursday, May 5 and winners will be announced on Friday, May 6. I haven't completely decided yet how many will win, but I am planning on buying at least 10 pets. Heck, maybe I'll only get 10 comments, and everyone can win!

And yes, this is open to guildies as well.

*Update: Sakaki of Tree Sproutling has generously donated a Cenarion Hatchling to this cause as well. Thanks so much Sakaki! I'm sure the future owner will be thrilled. :)

I already got mine, so if you picked me for whatever strange reason, I'd gift it to someone else who would adore it.

While I am not in any way blood-linked to Japan, my husband was born at Zama Army Hospital while his father were stationed there and I have my own, odd link.

We lived on Guam when I was young and that for me was 1971-1973 (yes, I know I'm old now). One time my father was holding me and this Japanese couple came over, smiled, Dad nodded, and they lifted me from his arms, carried me off a few feet, took pictures, and then handed me back to Dad. I remember being a little bewildered at the time, because no words were spoken, it was all just expressions and gestures.

But somewhere in Japan, there is a couple that has a couple of pictures of me from when I was 6 or 7 years old. Why, I've honestly never been sure, but every once in a while through the years, I've remembered them.

When the news about the earthquake and tsunami came, I thought of them again. Were they okay, what about their family and community? Did they have to flee their area, or were they lost like so many others... so many questions that I will never have a way to answer.

Actually, and I hope this doesn't affect your stats friend, but you can leave me out of the drawing; instead, I'm going to go buy my own and get a few for friends as gifts. Thanks for bringing this to our attention and for the great charitable idea.

Eep, don't give me one! Just wanted to say I bought 5 pets myself. Giving them to friends is nice, but my friend wants to buy me one so I can't use it myself :( I've always wanted a hippo too! /sigh guess I've waited so long a few more days isn't much.

I have been following your blog for 3 years and I never knew you had korean ethnicity! Not that it changes anything, just helps imagine the writer behind the words. :) Anyway this is a pet that will always hold special meaning and I'd be exhilarated if I won it :)

I'm a complete lurker who nonetheless has greatly enjoyed your blog for a long time. I'm so sorry to hear of your deep ties to Sendai, it must have been devastating for a disaster to strike at the exact spot you care about. I would love to enter your awesome contest.

Wow. You're doing a great thing here - kudos and awe to you for doing it. I'll be sharing this with the Pot's readership today so you might get a few extra entries (sorry everyone).

On a separate personal note, I'd also like to enter (so long as you're able/planning to provide codes from the EU store? If not, then discount me :)) It's a stunningly good cause and I have someone close to me playing who would like the pet. So if RNG is kind then that'd be great. If not, gratz to the winners!

I would like to enter the contest to show support for a friend I made through Warcraft. I personally have donated to the relief, and I'm sure she would be ecstatic about the new pet and support for the cause.

I lived in Japan twice--once as a military kid on Okinawa and once as a missionary in Osaka. When I looked at the video coverage of the tsunami, the neighborhoods looked so much like the normal neighborhoods I had seen in the Osaka area that it really hit home. I was so glad that the people I had known were away from that area.

Found my way here through the Melting Pot. So I already "won" by finding a new druid blog. This is a great idea for a contest to help spread some awareness about an important issue. I was really happy when I saw that Blizzard was doing this and this is a great way to take advantage of their offer. Full disclosure: if I win one of your pets I will probably figure out a way to give it to someone else that would enjoy it more.

I'm a longtime reader of your blog and I think what you're doing is great! I have really enjoyed the iTunes album of Songs for Japan that had 100% of profits going to the Red Cross and I would love to sport a Cenarion Hatchling pet. I would love to be entered into your contest.